


Supernatural 3.06 review

by yourlibrarian



Series: Supernatural Reviews [8]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Episode Review, Episode: s03e06 Red Sky at Morning, Gen, Nonfiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-15
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-24 05:01:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30067041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yourlibrarian/pseuds/yourlibrarian
Summary: Originally posted November 12, 2007.
Series: Supernatural Reviews [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2202249
Collections: March Meta Matters Challenge





	Supernatural 3.06 review

This episode had a bunch of wonderful individual character moments, but a lot of pieces seemed forced together in ways that didn’t seem to work well for any of the characters involved. Like "The Kids Are Alright", it took some interesting ideas and didn’t seem to really use them effectively.

At this point I think it’s become a new formula for the show to not only open with its Victim-of-the-Week, but to follow it by exposition in the car (or as I saw theantijoss call it, the Metallicar of Brotherly Tension). There’s been an interesting shift in these scenes though, as Sam’s attempts to get Dean to talk have flipped around. In our last episode there was simply a lot of shouting going on. Now, however, Sam is dodging Dean’s questions. I found it really interesting at the recent con that JP said he’s been deliberately playing Sam more like Dean, and he said this was something he came up with on his own rather than because he’d been directed to do so. I can only assume he’s noticed the same thing in the storylines that I’ve seen in other metas, that the two are starting to trade places, and not just in the “who’s protecting who” category. It really shows in this scene, where Sam wisecracks and Dean plows ahead about the missing bullet from the Colt. (Of course, this might also be more significant to us if anyone had stopped to explain how the Colt’s working again and whether it’s the bullets, the gun, or the combination that makes it demon-ready). Apparently the bullets are important though or there would be little need to keep close count. Just the same Dean’s apparently been keeping quiet about it, maybe waiting to see if Sam will bring it up (or maybe not wanting to know the answer). 

I thought the “after I told you not to” was an interesting phrase. I have a hard time imagining Sam saying the same to Dean. I also thought it was no accident that after Dean later says he shouldn’t have done it, Sam follows with “You’re my brother, Dean.” He goes on to talk about saving him, but I couldn’t help but think the unspoken end to that was “not my father.” Since the ghost story in this episode seems to be setting up Dean and Sam's arcs, I thought it significant that the older brother was a ship captain, someone who, as was seen, had the power of life and death and with whom there was a significant power differential.

It seems to me that the issue of their being not just siblings, but specifically an older and younger one, has always been an issue as far as Dean’s protective streak has gone, but it’s really starting to come out what that meant in terms of their dynamics growing up, and how Sam is rebelling against Dean in just the same way as he did against John. I’m starting to wonder how much this season is going to be about moving Dean out of that man-in-the-middle position he’s always occupied, and straight into John’s shoes in a way he never wanted. It may also make Sam into Mary’s son in a way we couldn’t expect. Her storyline is still very much hanging.

The comeback “She was a smartass” also really struck me. Not only is it Dean-like, but a really cold thing to say given the dead body left lying behind. I was thinking about how the willingness to kill these victims seems very emblematic in a way of modern warfare, which is so often fought guerrilla style, using civilians as human shields. It’s something that seems to be understood among them now, Dean doesn’t even blink at it.

Next we have them interviewing Ms. Case, though I have to wonder what the point of having her in the story was. She wasn’t really necessary to it in any way, other than, it would seem, keeping Sam busy while Bela and Dean are off playing thief. They could just have had Sam doing research on something, perhaps furthering the who-owns-Dean’s-soul storyline. And as comedic scenes it just seemed heavy handed and not particularly well-played by JP either. It would have been more interesting I think to have some actual rapport present so that Sam felt more genuinely uncomfortable. Instead it’s just kind of disquieting to watch, since I’m really not entertained by watching someone get groped who doesn’t want to be –- whether it’s a man or a woman -- nor seeing older people played as fools.

Then there’s the expository discussion at the marina. Pretty shots really, boys in suits against a great backdrop. Another nice feature of the brighter season is we can actually see the color of Sam’s hair. (which looks like it has highlights). The scene of the missing car is gold, one of those great little character moments that make shows worth paying attention to. I thought it could have gone on just a bit longer before Bela turns up. What would Dean have done were it missing, I wonder? Although Bela explains her connection to Gert and why their appearance has interfered with her plans, this doesn’t make much sense to me timewise. Assuming Gert called Bela immediately after they left, wouldn’t it have taken some time for her to connect the dots, come down there and take the car away, and then come back? Where have they been all that time? It seems it would have been easier to explain Bela’s involvement as simply being after the hand in the first place. This seems contrived just to keep Gert in the storyline, something they even hang a lantern on when Sam confronts Dean at the reception.

Dean seems to shrug off Sam’s shooting rather easily when Bela says it was just a graze. It seemed to nearly knock Sam to the ground at the time and Dean had been furious. I thought this a little too convenient. She messes with Sam, she messes with his car and he shrugs it off? Also, although I quite liked the shot from the interior of the trunk, did Sam and Dean need to be messing with the guns just then in broad daylight? And have their backs to Bela while doing it?

I liked the stakeout scene because it’s nice to have those spaces where Dean and Sam are working in quiet moments instead of dramatic ones. Also though it sets up the victim brothers in an interesting way, the two are partners-in-crime in various senses. They are obviously close, allied against their parent. Similarly at the end of the show we find out Bela herself has killed someone and now seems to be all about the money. But I would think that the independence it brings might perhaps be a larger motive and maybe she too had a partner-in-crime at one point.

It was neat to see Sam and Dean squatting in a property for a change. I was wondering why that was the case for this episode, and I think it was simply to have Dean come down a staircase (something not well set up in a motel). Given all the candles in use, one would assume the electricity isn’t on, (and the water had better be) yet it's working over the fireplace and in a later scene, so why were all of those amassed? (If anyone’s checked the price of candles, it wouldn’t have come cheap). And as for Dean’s “Hand of glory” comment –- isn’t this the same guy who took offense a few episodes ago at having a hooker assume he’d pay for sex?

Boys in tuxes are never a bad thing, though Dean seems a little too easily taken in by Bela’s compliment. You’d think Dean would be fairly immune to that with all the experience he’s had. I did like how he was stumped for a plan and Bela came up with one. It seemed a nice callback to “Scarecrow.” I also loved the other little character moments: of Dean snagging the canape, his apparent searching thoughts trying to place Oscar Wilde (he doesn’t get Miss Havisham either), and the clever moment of having the guard think he knows what Bela’s up to.

I thought the efforts to build romantic tension between them were heavy handed. Having her assault Dean’s sense of competence wouldn’t seem to be a mood builder for any guy, much less Dean, who takes so much of his identity from his work. Then Sam’s pointing out later that Bela got one over on him (not "us") wouldn’t seem to help either. From Dean’s mention of how his opinion of her couldn’t get any lower, I'm guessing that their very sense of low self-esteem is supposed to bring them together. Could make for an interesting storyline, but I’m not sure I have much confidence it’s going to be handled well.

I liked that Sam is still very much Sam in that his efforts to help keep resurfacing. What’s curious to me though is the change in the ghost lore. First we had canon present that bones had to be burned to banish a spirit. Later it became some part of the original body left behind, as we have in this case, that could also be destroyed. Yet now we have it shown that resolving the ghost’s central problem is also a way to banish the spirit. We saw this in "Roadkill", but Molly seemed to be a special case, perhaps because of the dual haunting issue. It’s a nice continuation of the empathy Sam showed her there that he again comes up with the resolution here. I’m kind of curious what Sam was reading since I picked out the word 'water' a few times.

I had to wonder if the script had originally had the rainstorm written in because odds were in Vancouver it would be raining? Yet it seemed artificially produced in the cemetery scene. That had to be a cold, miserable shoot for no clear reason I can fathom, since rain wasn’t necessary in the other appearances (and there was no water in Peter’s car)

Why would Sam think Bela has style? Because she paid them? Given she stole 46K from them, returning 10K doesn’t exactly make them even.

I liked the way that final conversation in the car brought some nice Dean continuity. Again, as in “Scarecrow” it seems that after they have a fight Dean generally comes around to Sam’s point-of-view; very unlike John I would imagine. Of course this time as he’s preparing again to send Sam off on his own, he doesn’t mention Sam returning to school. He assumes Sam will keep hunting. Of course, with their legal problems it wouldn’t seem Sam has that much choice anymore. But we end with Dean once again in denial, and Sam once again pushing –- a nice bookend to their opening scene.


End file.
